Land

Relief

The province may be divided into three parts: the eastern mountains, the western plains, and a transitional zone of rolling hills between them. Elevation decreases from the highlands in the southeast toward the Northeast Plain in the northwestern part of the province. The mountains of eastern Jilin take the form of parallel ranges that are separated by broad valleys. The most famous of the ranges is the Changbai Mountains close to the Korean border. The eastern portion of the range is volcanic and includes the snow-covered Mount Baitou (or Jiangjun; Mount Paektu [or Paek] in Korean) massif on the border, which includes the highest peaks in both northeastern China and North Korea. The summit region encompasses a volcanic crater occupied by a lake; the highest point on the Chinese side is Baiyun Peak, at 8,829 feet (2,691 metres), while the Paektu high point on the Korean side reaches 9,022 feet (2,750 metres) above sea level. The Changbai range is the source of three important rivers: the Sungari (Songhua), the Yalu, and the Tumen. The middle section of the Northeast Plain forms the northwestern part of the province and constitutes three-eighths of its area. It has a rolling topography, with an average elevation of about 650 feet (200 metres).

Drainage

The Yalu and Tumen rivers flow in opposite directions along the Sino-Korean border. The Yalu runs southwest to Korea Bay, the Tumen down the Changbai range northeastward to the Sea of Japan (East Sea). The two rivers are of great strategic importance, guarding the land approaches to northeastern China from the Korean peninsula. The Sungari River is the major stream of Jilin. It flows for almost 500 miles (800 km) within the province, draining an area of more than 30,000 square miles (78,000 square km). Its upper course runs northwest in a series of rapids through heavily forested mountains before it enters the Sungari Reservoir, a man-made lake. Emerging from the reservoir, the Sungari flows past Jilin city, situated at the head of navigation of the Sungari River and at the geographical centre of the province. The river enters the Northeast Plain and is shortly afterward joined by its chief tributary, the Nen River, which is in fact larger than the Sungari. It then turns sharply east to run along the boundary with Heilongjiang province for a short distance before it leaves Jilin province.

Soils

There are two main types of soil in the province: podzols in the eastern mountainous region and black earth in the western plains. The podzols occur in several forms and are of both high and low fertility. Central and western Jilin are the areas of the black earths of the Northeast Plain. Of high fertility and containing a high percentage of organic matter, they form good arable land. The young alluvial soils along the Sungari and its tributaries also provide excellent land for cultivation. In western Jilin are saline soils, alkaline soils, and high-alkaline soils of low agricultural value.

Climate

Jilin province forms a transitional climatic zone between the northern and southern portions of China’s Northeast. The winter is cold and long, and rivers are frozen for about five months; the ice on the Sungari is thick enough to support mule carts. Changchun, near the centre of China’s Northeast, has mean temperatures of 2 °F (−17 °C) for January and 74 °F (23 °C) for July. It has a mean annual precipitation of about 25 inches (630 mm), more than 80 percent of it during the five warm months from May to September. Precipitation increases southeastward to more than 40 inches (1,000 mm) in the Changbai Mountains area but decreases westward; the Northeast Plain receives only about 16 inches (400 mm).

Plant and animal life

The natural vegetation is prairie grass in the western plains and mixed conifer and broad-leaved deciduous forest in the eastern mountainous area. The vegetation in the eastern mountains includes tree species such as the Japanese red pine, Manchurian ash, fish-scale pine, larch, birch, oak, willow, elm, and the Manchurian walnut. In the deep mountain interior, virgin forest has been preserved. Tree types are distributed in distinct belts depending mainly on elevation: between 800 feet and 1,600 feet (245 and 490 metres) is the deciduous broad-leaved belt, mainly mountain willows and oaks; a mixed coniferous and broad-leaved forest is found between 1,600 feet and 3,000 feet (490 and 915) metres; between 3,000 feet and 5,900 feet (915 and 1,800 metres) there is coniferous forest; and mountain birch is found from 5,900 feet to 6,900 feet (1,800 to 2,100 metres).

Many valuable wild animals and medicinal plants are found in the forested mountain areas. The Manchurian hare, valued for its fur, and some species of rodent such as the rat hamster and the eastern field vole are believed to be peculiar to the Northeast forest. Among birds, finches, buteo hawks, needle-footed owls, black and white barriers, and certain species of flycatcher are typical. Among semiaquatic animals, the lungless newts are notable. Certain species of snakes, such as the Schrenk racer, found in the inhabited areas of the Northeast and Korea, live in a partially domesticated state and are used to eliminate harmful rodents in orchards and gardens. European wild boars, common hedgehogs, Asian red deer, harvest mice, and field mice are among the more common Eurasian species. Sikas (a type of deer) are prized for their antlers. Valuable pelts include fox, chipmunk, the light-coloured polecat, the Manchurian hare, and the sable. The sable population, however, has diminished considerably; sables are now protected, as are Siberian tigers.

People

Han (Chinese) predominate throughout the province, except in the Yianbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture that is contiguous with North Korea and has a large population of ethnic Koreans. Most of the Manchu (Man) live in the central part of the province, in the vicinity of Jilin and Siping municipalities; in addition, the Yitong Man Autonomous County was established in 1988 some 45 miles (70 km) south of Changchun. A few Hui (Chinese Muslims) are distributed in the cities and towns of the province, and some Mongolians are to be found in the Baicheng and Songyuan area in northwestern Jilin.

Economy

Agriculture and forestry

Jilin is a major producer of food crops, mainly rice, corn (maize), grain sorghum, millet, and beans. Most of the rice fields are in its eastern part, the Yianbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture being a noted rice-producing area of northern China. The most important commercial crops are sugar beets and tobacco, as well as flax, sunflower, and sesame.

In the upper Sungari River basin, timber production for construction and milling is a major economic activity. In the eastern sections of the province, much of the forestry activity centres on pulp and paper production. Ginseng root, found in the Changbai Mountains, is highly prized.

Resources and power

The major minerals of the province include coal, petroleum, natural gas, molybdenum, germanium, nickel, and gold. Coal is found in the southeast, near the Yalu River border with North Korea. Many smaller local mines also supply provincial needs. More recently, mineral water from the Changbai Mountains has been bottled and widely distributed.

The Fengman Dam and hydroelectric power station on the Sungari (Songhua) River, Jilin province, northeastern China.Xinhua News Agency

The first major hydroelectric power installation, the Fengman station on the Sungari River southeast of Jilin, was built by the Japanese during World War II and rebuilt by the Soviets in the 1950s. Several more large hydroelectric projects have been undertaken since then in the eastern mountains.

Manufacturing

Jilin is relatively highly industrialized and is a major producer of automobiles, chemicals, machine tools, power, and forest products. Originally a lumbering and food-processing centre, the province acquired a heavy industrial base during the Japanese occupation of 1931–45. It was a major beneficiary of Soviet investment in the mid-1950s, acquiring an automotive industry and metals and fabrication industries. Beginning in the 1960s the development of hydroelectric power in the province made possible the development of chemical and ferro-alloy industries. Most industry is concentrated in the two largest cities in the province—Changchun and Jilin.

Transportation

Most of the municipalities and counties in the province have direct access to a rail line. The Sungari is the main artery of the inland navigation network. Its tributary the Huifa River and the Tumen River are both navigable by wooden vessels. The Yalu is navigable by steamers up to Yulin and by wooden vessels above that point. The highway network has regional centres at Changchun, Jilin, Yanji, and Tonghua; an express highway runs southwestward from Changchun to Shenyang in Liaoning and extends eastward to Jilin city. Changchun is the focus of the province’s air travel, with connections to the major cities in China and some international routes.

Government and society

Constitutional framework

Jilin is divided administratively into one autonomous prefecture (zizhizhou), and eight prefecture-level municipalities (dijishi). The province is further divided into districts under municipality (shixiaqu), counties (xian)—some of which are autonomous counties (zizhixian) established for minority nationalities—and county-level municipalities (xianjishi).

Education

Jilin’s educational facilities are well developed, with more than 30 universities and other post-secondary institutions. Notable among these are Jilin University (founded 1946) and Northeast Normal University (1946), both in Changchun, and Yanbian University (1949) in Yanji. Overall literacy rates are significantly higher than the national average, as is the proportion of the population with at least a primary level education. Medical services are provided by hospitals and clinics staffed by medical workers, including doctors and practitioners of Chinese medicine.

Cultural life

As is the case in the other Chinese provinces, dozens of cultural centres, public libraries, and popular arts centres have been established in Jilin at the county level and below. Renowned local artistic and cultural heritages include a tradition of peasant drawings from Dongfeng county and a variety of folk dances from Jilin’s Korean, Mongol, and Manchu minority groups. One of China’s major film producers is based in Changchun, and the city was long hailed as the “cradle of new China’s film industry.” Changchun was the administrative centre of the Japanese puppet state of Manchukuo (Manzhouguo; 1932–45), and the former imperial place of the emperor Puyi is the site of the provincial museum and one of the city’s main tourist attractions. Another unique attraction is the exhibit of stony meteorites in Jilin city that were collected from a spectacular meteorite shower in the area in 1976. Also significant are the capital cities and tombs of the ancient Koguryŏ kingdom near Tonghua in the southern corner of the province, which, with sites in neighbouring Liaoning province, collectively were designated a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2004.

History

In early modern times the Jilin region was inhabited by groups of steppe and forest dwellers and was at times loosely united politically by leaders who presented tribute of furs, ginseng, and pearls at the court of the Ming emperors of China. In the late 16th century the Hurka tribe dominated the region before being defeated by the Manchu leader Nurhachi. After the establishment of the Qing, or Manchu, dynasty in 1644, the region was at first directly administered by a military governor posted in the town of Jilin, and the region was thereafter referred to as Jilin.

Despite the Qing government policy of discouraging agricultural settlement in the Manchu homeland, large numbers of Han settlers from North China established farms in the region during the 18th century, a period of rapid population expansion in China proper. In 1799 the transition to an agricultural economy was officially recognized with the establishment of a prefectural government at Changchun to administer the new settlements. In the late 19th century, economic development accelerated in Jilin with the building of railways and industries processing agricultural products. This development encouraged a new influx of Chinese settlers and led to conflict between Russia and Japan over economic interests in the area.

Jilin was created a province of Manchuria in 1907, near the end of the Qing dynasty, and was occupied by the Japanese army in 1931. The province became a part of the puppet state of Manchukuo, with Jilin city as the provincial capital. Just before Japan’s surrender to the Allies on Aug. 15, 1945, Soviet forces entered the region, dismantled key industrial installations, and removed them to the Soviet Union. Following the withdrawal of Soviet troops, Chinese Nationalists moved in, but by 1948 they had been driven out by Chinese communist forces.

Jilin province was subordinated under the Northeast Military Administrative Commission in 1950. In 1954 the province was enlarged through the addition of a strip of territory annexed from northern Liaoning (which at the time was part of the former Liaoxi province), including the cities of Siping, Liaoyuan, and Tonghua and a portion of Heilongjiang’s steppe district near Baicheng. The capital of the province also moved from Jilin to Changchun in the same year. After 1954, with the abolition of the regional government, the province came under direct administration of the central government.